Clean and current customer and vendor master data is essential for efficient accounting operations. Without it your company will experience more errors, disputes and unauthorized deductions.
Maintaining master data is an ongoing need. It is time consuming if you don’t automate, and provide a self-service portal for your customers and vendors to manage their accounts. Even when you provide a self-service portal, however, it can still be difficult to get customers and vendors to update their data.
Magic Links are the solution to accounting master data issues.
Verification with Self-Onboarding
You can send an email to a customer to update and verify AP information, or to a vendor to do the same for AR data. Simply include a Magic Link to an online form where they can update and verify their account information as necessary.
Collect Data and Documentation
It’s easy to use Magic Links to collect data and documentation. After the Magic Link has been clicked on, you can update the profile, and add documentation. Once updated that information can be synchronized with your ERP.
Make sure you captured the TIN information correctly to avoid problems with the IRS.
Think of how much time you can save if your customers and vendors self-manage their information.
Record Verification
A log of updates to customer and vendor data helps build trust and provides an audit trail.
Self-Correcting Process
The biggest mistake in data management is not obtaining the right email address at the start. Up to 12% of invoices are sent to an email address that is not the AP department. The problem is usually not discovered until after the first invoice goes past due. A recipient might forward the invoice to the AP department, but that rarely happens.
Provide a self-correcting process for this situation by adding a message like:
If this email has been sent to the wrong person please click here to let us know who we should be sending these to.
Your initial contact at the customer can provide the correct contact and address. They are the most likely to know who the email should go to.
Follow-Up
Automate follow-up to send a reminder. Don’t get stuck at the end of the line, use automation to get a response to your request sooner.
Your Profile
Use automation to share your profile information with your contacts. Make it easy for customers and vendors to reach you.
Magic Links are the answer to customer and vendor data issues. With a connected accounting solution for your AR and AP teams to coordinate work with customers and vendors, you can go digital and enjoy the benefits of office automation.
Lockstep, a leader in cloud-based connected accounting solutions, can help you boost productivity and optimize cash flow with:
- Digital Onboarding – Collect master data directly from your customers and vendors
- Accounting Inbox – Make it easy to divvy up work and track progress
- Smart Automation – Automate menial task with accounting integration
- Online Accounts – Give customers and vendors online access to their accounts
Lockstep is an experienced software partner that can help you increase efficiency and accelerate cash flow.
If you would like to learn more about how you can benefit from connected accounting solutions, please contact Lockstep at www.lockstephq.com.
